1. What is our purpose?

Class/grade: 5-6 Age group: 11- 12

To inquire into the following:
Title: Our Australian Community
 Transdisciplinary theme
HOW WE EXPRESS OURSELVES: An inquiry into the ways in which we Proposed duration: one term, across all Year 5/6 classes.
discover and express ideas, feelings, nature, culture, beliefs and values; the
ways in which we reflect on, extend and enjoy our creativity; our appreciation 2. What do we want to learn?
of the aesthetic. What are the key concepts (form, function, causation, change, connection,
 Central idea perspective, responsibility, reflection) to be emphasized within this inquiry?
Rituals, traditions and artefacts provide a window into the beliefs and
Key concepts: function, perspective, reflection
values of cultures.
Related concepts: beliefs, diversity
Links to ACARA: Intercultural Understanding learning continuum
LEVEL 3
What lines of inquiry will define the scope of the inquiry into the central idea?
Recognising culture and developing respect element Lines of inquiry

Sub-element: Explore and compare cultural knowledge, beliefs and practices  What constitutes a culture

Students will describe and compare a range of cultural stories, events and  Significance of rituals and traditions
artefacts.  How artefacts symbolize beliefs and values.
Sub-element: Develop respect for cultural diversity.

Students will identify and discuss the significance of a range of cultural events, What teacher questions/provocations will drive these inquiries? (provocations)
artefacts or stories recognised in the school, community or natio What specific aspect of your culture do you most appreciate and never want to lose?

Reflecting on intercultural experiences and taking responsibility element What are some of the recreational activities that people in your culture enjoy?
Describe at least three of them in detail.What languages are spoken in your culture?
Sub-element: Reflect on intercultural experiences Are there any sacred languages? What kinds of writing do they use? What stories are
told? Where do these stories come from?
Students will identify and describe what they have learnt about themselves and
others from real, virtual and vicarious intercultural experiences What can contribute to conflicts in different cultures? How can we resolve these
conflicts?
Summative assessment task(s):
How open is your culture to recognising and appreciating other cultures? If you are a
What are the possible ways of assessing students’ understanding of the central
idea? What evidence, including student-initiated actions, will we look for? more open culture does this mean you lose your own culture more quickly?
Students brainstorm as a whole class to identify the problems taking place in the How do you identify yourself according to your culture? What do you feel best
community and decide on some solutions which will encourage community represents your culture? What stories do your remember from your childhood?
closeness and unity. As a whole class, students view, discuss and evaluate
various cultural stories, events and artefacts which communicate about culture. Consider the different ways in which people can tell stories eg- dance, drama, music,
They decide on the best and most interesting ways to gather and present their oral storytelling, visual arts, media.
investigations.
How can we show people we are a multicultural school?
In groups of 3-4, students investigate and gather artifacts from the community
around them.
Research and investigations will be expressed in an oral presentation every
week to monitor student progress.
As a result of the summative sasesment (the exhibition), students will develop a
greater understanding, respect and appreciation of the cultural diversities in the
community which make up the Australian identity.
Assessment tools: Anecdotal records to be made on students’ ongoing
investigations and their team work skills. Students will be asked to reflect upon
their own investigations and how their beliefs and attitudes have changed over
the course of the unit.
Exhibition rubric : Exhibition Rubric. Primary Years Programme. Exhibition
Guidelines , 2004, p.14 (See appendix)

3. How might we know what we have learned? 4. How best might we learn?
What are the possible ways of assessing students’ prior knowledge and What are the learning experiences suggested by the teacher and/or students to
skills? What evidence will we look for? encourage the students to engage with the inquiries and address the driving
questions?
Read aloud stories from different cultures and analyse the cultural differences in
the stories: the characters, values, beliefs. Compare with own cultures and Students create a mind map of what they feel about cultures and the function of
differences; note similarities and differences. cultures. Students identify their feelings and ideas about culture on a PMI chart.
Students examine a range of cultural artefacts such as stories, songs, myths, rituals,
recipes, photographs to determine what type of information is communicated in these.
What are the possible ways of assessing student learning in the context of
the lines of inquiry? What evidence will we look for? Students investigate the biographies of people in the community through gathering the
artefacts through research skills such as interviewing and analyzing the data.
Students self-reflect and self-assess their development over the unit in relation
to how their initial beliefs and attitudes have changed while engaging with the Students reflect individually and as a group on the central idea in the light of
learning. Students can write their reflections or use video/audio recording to understanding gained during the unit and record evidence of this through their
record the information. written/video/audio journals.
Students present their findings of their investigations and engagement with the unit
during an exhibition which is open to the whole school and community.
What opportunities will occur for transdisciplinary skills development and for
the development of the attributes of the learner profile?
Dialectical thought: Exploration of cultural artefacts in the community enable
students to develop intercultural understanding and awareness to better appreciate
similarities and differences which exist in communities.
Research skills: As part of prior learning, students have identified research skills to
develop during the inquiry. They will use these skills to collect, record, organize and
interpret their findings about cultural diversities in the community and then present
their findings during the exhibition.

5. What resources need to be gathered?

How will the classroom environment, local environment, and/or the community to used to facilitate the inquiry?
The students, their families, friends and people within the community are drawn upon as funds of knowledge and curricula for investigation.
Cultural Immersion & investigation phases : students, parents and community : Invite family or school community members to share aspects of their culture with the
students. These could be set up as rotating activities over a day or half day. Ensure a range of cultures are represented, especially ones in the community. Consider the
different ways in which people can tell stories eg- dance, drama, music, oral storytelling, visual arts, media. Sharing traditional stories and songs from their culture. Telling
stories from their childhood and showing photos. Teaching a traditional dance eg. bush dancing. Viewing and workshopping traditional art forms eg Aboriginal paintings,
batik, Chinese calligraphy.Exploring traditional festivals linked to their culture and creating some decorations and symbolism linked to the celebration eg. Chinese dragon.
Bringing artefacts to share from their culture.

Online materials/ Artwork/ Music: see sample lesson plans

6. To what extent did we achieve our purpose?
Assess the outcome of the inquiry by providing evidence of students’ 7. How will we evaluate the curriculum programme? (indicators, etc)
understanding of the central idea.
The central idea for the unit is: Rituals, traditions and artefacts provide a window into
the beliefs and values of cultures.
Students inquired into :what constitutes a culture, significance of rituals and
traditions, how artefacts symbolize beliefs and values.
In the final outcome, students present their findings in a student exhibition and are
able to discuss how their attitudes and beliefs have changed over the course of the
unit through the assessment tools (reflective journals, exhibition) via the rubrics
developed for this unit of inquiry.

8. What important skills were developed over the course of this unit?

How you could improve on the assessment task(s) so that you would have a
more accurate picture of each student’s understanding of the central idea.

What was the evidence that connections were made between the central idea and
the transdisciplinary theme?
8. What student-initiated inquiries arose from the learning? 9. Teacher notes
Record a range of student-initiated inquiries and student questions and highlight any
that were incorporated into the teaching and learning.

What student-initiated actions arose from the learning?

Record student-initiated actions taken by individuals or groups showing their ability
to reflect, to choose and to act.